Mancini blasts Mario Balotelli after Sunderland draw

London: Mario Balotelli might have scored twice that helped Manchester City escape with a draw against Sunderland at Etihad stadium on Saturday but the controversial Italian hasn’t been able to avoid the wrath of his coach Roberto Mancini.

The Italian was mulling the option of replacing his fellow countryman after five minutes of play on Saturday citing his below par performance.

“We had only Carlos [Tévez] on the bench. I thought about this (replacing Balotelli) after five minutes.”

“He didn’t play well. In a game like this the striker should be the difference. Not in the last two or three minutes but before. In the first half we should have scored two or three. Mario and [Edin] Dzeko should have scored two or three goals in a game like this,” he was quoted as saying in media reports.

Manchester United will sit five points clear at the top ahead of Manchester City if they manage to beat Blackburn on Monday.